Tesla in India still a distant dream as domestic auto cos raise resistance
India is yet to decide on the lower import taxes on imported electric vehicles, news agency Reuters quoted Rajesh Kumar Singh, a top bureaucrat at the Department for Industry and Trade Promotion as saying at the ongoing World Economic Forum in Davos.
The issue of the Elon Musk-led company's entry and lower EV import taxes has also faced resistance from the domestic industry, the official said. Additionally, India has continued its demand of wanting firm commitments from Tesla on investment and manufacturing should the government opt to lower taxes.
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Domestic resistance
«The issue is raising resistance from domestic industry because they are also in that (EV price) segment,» Singh said. «It's a very contested area and we've not been able to take a final call on this so far.»
The government's intentions to provide incentives to Tesla and other international automakers have domestic automakers in India worried about the potential entry of Tesla into the market. India has been working on a plan to reduce the 100 per cent import tariff on EVs to as low as 15 per cent for manufacturers who agree to eventually invest and manufacture in India.
ET in November reported that the electric carmaker was willing to invest up to $2 billion in order to set up a factory in India if the Central government approves a concessional duty of 15 per cent on imported EVs in the first two years of its operations in the country.
Further, the carmaker had approached the Narendra Modi government with a detail proposal linking the quantum of investment to the number of cars it can import at lower duty. Sources told ET that Tesla was looking to invest
